New nuclear communities deserve to benefit from business rates

Communities like mine understand the benefits of hosting projects such as nuclear power stations, particularly in the deprived areas where they are often located - and where local investment opportunities and new jobs are always welcomed by residents, even though only a small number will benefit from them. Communities are also supportive of the national need for new nuclear power stations to keep the lights on and decarbonise the UK. But just because a community accepts - even embraces - its role as a pioneer in the new nuclear age, does not mean this support is offered "at any cost", without fairness and proportionality.

Should the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point go ahead, the surrounding communities will change forever. The planning system obliges developers to mitigate the “direct impact” of their project: road congestion, noise, smells and an influx of thousands of construction workers. For at least eight years, towns around Hinkley Point C will become the biggest building site in the country.

But there is also the more intangible, holistic impact. A development of this size (far bigger than encountered previously) will make Hinkley Point C the defining characteristic of these communities for the next 60 years. Quality of life and environmental and psychological well-being will be intrinsically linked to their selection as “nuclear” communities. New roads for the developer’s trucks, or new housing for site workers, cannot possibly address this.

That local people have learnt to live with nuclear power stations is not an argument for implied future consent for such impositions across generations. The issue of risk is particularly significant with nuclear power; far above other forms of generation in terms of magnitude of harm should an incident occur. Local communities understand the risks better than most: residents near the Hinkley Point stations are required to keep iodine tablets to hand in case of radiation poisoning. Unlikely as such a disaster may be, with images of Fukushima still fresh in their memories, it may never be possible to fully compensate residents for this loss of peace of mind.

The UK onshore wind industry provides a form of redress, supported by government, through the principle of “community benefits” and retention of business rates: if communities host a nationally beneficial infrastructure project, then benefits commensurate with the size and scale of the impact should accrue to them. Forms of this also exist across Europe and the US.

In this age of information, our communities are well aware of these precedents. The notion of business rate retention for renewables has been proposed by government, but it has not been extended to cover low-carbon projects. There is a strong feeling of injustice that what is appropriate for UK communities hosting renewables is not equally appropriate for communities hosting new nuclear – particularly when this results in many times more physical and psychological impact than, say, a new wind turbine.

The communities around Hinkley Point seek to retain all the business rates for these developments to go towards local projects and investment. This could include new schools, community buildings, subsidised electri­city and home energy efficiency retrofitting – no family should be living in fuel poverty on the doorstep of the newest and largest nuclear power station in the UK. Priority would be given to those least likely to benefit, but most likely to be affected.

Through their local authorities, these communities are working with EDF, and government, to secure the retention of rates over the lifetime of the power station. Government has already agreed the principle for renewables, but at the time of writing nothing concrete has been agreed for new nuclear. Until such time, we will continue to fight to secure a clear and detailed commitment for those communities that will be most ­significantly impacted by hosting the first new nuclear power station of a generation.

Cllr Duncan McGinty Leader of Sedgemoor District Council

This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 25 May 2012.

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